Portable paint and liquid mixer



May 3, 1938. A. P. JORGENSON PORTABLE PAINT AND LIQUID MIXER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 1, 1937 ATTORNEY y 1938- A. P. JORGENSON I PORTABLE PAINT AND LIQUID MIXER Filed Feb. 1, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet-Z ATTORN EY Patented May 3, 1938 PATENT OFFlCE t 2,115,956 PORTABLE PAINT AND LIQUID MIXER.

Arthur P. Jorgenson, Racine, Wis., assignor, by mesne asignments, to Landon P. Smith, Inc., Irvington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 1, 1937, Serial No. 123,439

3; Claims.

This invention relates to devices for stirring, mixing, or blending paint or other liquids by direct action upon such paint or liquid in a container.

The invention resides in a form. of apparatus in which an electric motor, or other suitable source, of power, is provided with rigid baifle supportswhich bear opposing baflles at their ends and in which the rotating shaft of said motor or power source connects with a shaft disposed between the baiile supports, upon which shaft is carried an impeller or impellers. The motor drives the shaft in the proper direction to throw a liquid which is to be treated against the faces of the opposing battles. 'The whole is arranged for ready portability and, by reason of the fact that the reaction of the impeller is largely absorbed by the baiiies, may be provided with simple and eiiective clamping means for securing the same to the side of a container, preferably in such manner that the baffles forming the lowermost part of the apparatus may rest directly upon the bottom of the container.

Portable agitators for the mixing of paint or other fluids have been constructed in a wide variety of forms. In the forms heretofore proposed or used, however, the principal object sought apparently has .been to produce circulation in the liquid undergoing treatment. For the redispersion of badly caked or settled-out paint the object to be sought is not so much that of circulation of the liquid, but rather that of the grinding or disintegration of the solid aggregates which are loosened or washed away from the cake by the circulating fluid. Heretofore such an action has been obtained only in large stationary equipment and it has been the custom to return to the factory where such facilities are available paint which has become badly caked through protracted storage. In the apparatus of this invention, however, a simple and easily portable and easily cleaned apparatus is provided which produces, in addition to an active circulation of the fluid, an impact disintegration of aggregates suspended therein.

The apparatus of this invention is best described by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a side view of an apparatus of this invention, shown mounted in position in a typical container, portions of the latter being broken away;

Fig. 2 is a. fragmentary end view of a part of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section, looking: upwardly,v of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, taken at the plane Fig. 4 is a section taken downwardly of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1, taken at the plane 4-4;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view, looking downwardly, 6 taken at the plane 5-5 of Fig. 1, showing in detail the construction of an auxiliary impeller; and

Fig. 6 is a side View in detail of the impeller shown in Fig. 5. 10

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown one form of apparatus embodying this invention. The ap paratus there shown comprises a motor I, for furnishing power for operation thereof. The motor maybe of any suitable type, as, for example, a 15 one-fourth H. P. single phase induction motor, capable of operating upon ordinary commercially distributed electric power. Secured to the top of the motor I is a convenient grip handle 2 in which there is housed a suitable switch 3 for starting and stopping the motor. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the grip handle 2 is secured to the motor by means of bolts 4. A flexible cable 5 is provided through which the necessary driving current is supp-lied. 25

Rigidly secured to the bottom of the motor I is a supporting frame 6, which is held in place by bolts 7, as shown more'clearly in Fig. 1. The frame 6 for all intents and purposes is a rigid portion of the housing of the motor I and may be 30 integrally formed therewith, if desired. Formed as a part of the frame 6 are sockets 8 in which are held the square baffle supports 9. The bafile supports are elongated, square rods, the ends of which are diagonally slotted to receive obliquely 35 placed baffle plates 10, as shown in Fig. 1 and in greater detail in Fig. 4.

Slidably mounted upon one of the bafiie support rods 9 is the mounting clamp l I, which is provided With a suitable clamping screw 12 to which there is attached a handle lit. The clamp is shown in Fig. l in position on the side of a typical container 15. To provide the sliding connection with baflie support rod 9, the clamp is 45 provided with an integrally formed head l4 through which a square hole passes and in which the square rod 9 is slidably received, as is shown clearly on the right-hand side of Fig. 3. This arrangement, particularly in view of the peculiar 50 interior configuration of the clamp H, as shown in Fig. 1, permits the apparatus to be clamped to the rim of a variety of heights, sizes, and forms, of containers. The clamp ll insures retention of the apparatus in a vertical position, 55

while the weight of the apparatus is borne directly by the bottom of the container upon which rests the lower ends of the baffles I0.

The moving parts of the apparatus are attached directly to the shaft of the motor I, although supplementary bearings may be provided, if desired, and are composed of a coupling I6 and an elongated square impeller shaft II. The shaft I! bears at its lower end an impeller I8, which is mounted in a slot cut diagonally across the end of said shaft IT. The length of shaft I1 is so adjusted that the lower edge of the impeller I8 is slightly above the lower ends of the baffle plates I0, so that the rotating parts will clear the surface upon which the apparatus rests.

In addition to the impeller I8 there is positioned on the shaft I! an auxiliary impeller I9, which is composed of a pair of blades 20 and 2I secured to a tubular hub 22. Referringto Fig. 1, it will be noted that the square shaft I1 is provided with a plurality of notches 23 disposed along its length. An inwardly projecting lug on the upper edge of the blade 20 is arranged to be received in the notches 23 when turned to the position shown in Fig. 5. Due to the shape of the notches 23 and the direction of rotation of the shaft II, the lug on blade 20 is engaged in the notch 23, thus holding the auxiliary impeller I9 securely in place while the apparatus is in operation. If it is desired to move the auxiliary impeller to one of the other notches 23, this may be accomplished by turning the impeller I9 oneeighth of a turn clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, whereupon the impeller I9 may be shifted vertically to any of the other positions desired and again engaged in a notch 23. Adjustability of the auxiliary impeller I9 is desirable by reason of the variation in sizes of containers which may be employed to hold the paint or liquid undergoing treatment. Paint being treated in a one gallon container would call for'anappropriately lower position of the impeller than paint undergoing treatment in a five gallon container approximating in dimensions the one shown in Fig. 1, while some containers may call for shifting the impeller I9 to the topmost notch where it is removed entirely from contact with the liquid.

In operation, the shaft IT and impellers attached thereto rotate in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 4. In so doing it will be noted that the impeller I8 sweeps in a direction which may be defined by pointing out that it first crosses a line connecting the remote edges 24 of the bafiles I and then in passing onwardly in its path it crosses a line connecting the near edges '25 of the baffles I0. The parts are arranged in relatively close proximity to one another and the impeller I8 is driven preferably at a speed of approximately 1000 to 2000 R. P. M. Under these conditions any lumps or fragments of caked or settled paint which come into the path of the impeller I8 are struck a blow of high intensity or are driven against the baffies with great force, sufficient to disintegrate and redisperse them. In accomplishing this action the bafiles appear to play an important part and, preferably, should be placed obliquely, as shown, since in an apparatus not including such baffles very markedly inferior results are obtained. The baffles further play an important part in absorbing a large part of the reaction of the impeller, thus relieving the support of the heavy torque which would otherwise be imposed thereon and making possible the use of the simple sliding clamp II for support.

In a typical instance of use of the apparatus of this invention, five, gallons of paint, held in a container similar to the one shown in Fig. l and designated by the numeral I and which has been held in storage until badly settled, is opened. An almost solid layer of appreciable depth will be found in the bottom of the container. The apparatus of this invention is thrust into the container and the clamp II adjusted to the rim of the container and clamped in place by means of the handle I3 on the clamping screw I2. The lower parts of the apparatus, including the baffles I0 and the impeller I8, will then be found to be resting upon, or partially penetrating, the solid layer held in the container. The apparatus is then connected to a source of electric power and the switch 3 thrown to close the circuit. Shaft I1 and the impellers carried thereby are immediately placed in rotation and the apparatus, by reason of the sliding connection with the head I4 of the clamp I I, immediately starts to descend, quickly'reaching a position in the lower part of the container, as shown in Fig. 1. Unless the paint is unusually obstinate, after operation for approximately two minutes the entire contents of the container will be found to be uniformly dispersed. In particularly obstinate cases the handle I3 may be loosened and the apparatus moved once or twice during the treatment.

The apparatus of this invention, as will be observed from the above description, in addition to being novel is simple, convenient in use, and highly effective. Its simple construction lends itself well to rapid and easy cleaning, an important feature in any device of this nature. While this invention has been described with the aid of drawings and description setting forth one specific embodiment thereof and the manner of its use, it is intended that the protection to be granted hereon be not unnecessarily limited thereby, but that such protection extend to the full limits of the advance disclosed and claimed herein.

That which I claim as my invention and wish to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

In an apparatus for mixing fluids, the combination comprising a frame, stationary bafile supports extending from said frame, bafile blades at the end of said supports disposed in planes parallel to one another and arranged obliquely with respect to a line between them, a shaft arranged for rotation and disposed lengthwise between said supports, an impeller mounted on said shaft with the faces thereof longitudinally disposed with respect to said shaft, and means engaging said shaft for rotation of the same in such direction with respect to said baffles that said impeller sweeps, during a part of its circular movement, from alignment with the exterior of the edges of said baffles to alignment with the interior edges thereof.

2. In an apparatus for fluid mixing, the combination comprising a clamp for engaging a liquid container, a vertically disposed guiding member mounted on said clamp, a rotatable impeller shaft having an impeller, a frame for rotatably mounting said shaft, and a vertical baffle support extending downwardly from said frame to a point below said impeller and being slidably held in said vertically disposed guiding member whereby said frame, rotatable impeller shaft and baffle support are held in vertical position while remaining free to rest upon and settle through a solid deposit on the bottom of said liquid container.

3. In an apparatus for fluid mixing, the combination comprising a clamp for engaging a liquid container, a vertically disposed guiding member mounted on said clamp, a rotatable impeller shaft having an impeller, a frame for rotatably mounting said shaft, and vertical baflle supports extending downwardly from said frame to a point below said impeller, one of said baille supports being slidably held in said vertically disposed guiding member whereby said frame, rotatable impeller shaft and bafile support are held in vertical position while remaining free to rest upon and settle through a solid deposit on the bottom of said liquid container.

ARTHUR P. J ORGENSON. 

